Spotting scopes

[luckydog]

Has anyone ever rigged a spotting scope up to their digital camera? If so were the results great or just alright?
I'm keen to have a go as i would love to shoot the moon and get a decent pic.

 

[Synergy]

Hi Luckydog

my scope is an Orion Starmax 127mm and is supplied with an equatorial mount (tripod) for astronomy. The same Optical Tube assembly (OTA) can also be supplied in a spotting version without the mount. Both versions come primed for photography with standard fittings for adaptors to attach your slr. If you want to take pictures though the eyepiece then you can buy an adaptor that clamps onto the eyepiece and holds you camera in place.

Quality wise, as with most things, if you want the best quality results you have to expect to spend some cash on good equipment, I took this pic of the moon using a friends Sony P5 by just holding the camera up to the eyepiece…and it's not too bad!! now that i've got my slr connected, i'm hoping for better.

If you’re interested this page has a lot of info about exposure times etc and techniques that you might find useful if you’re thinking of shooting the moon.

http://www.astronomyphotos.com/Astrotechniques.htm

Cheers